Ken Casper - A Lady's Luck

The stakes are high.

Scandal has hit the Preston family and their award-winning Quest Stables. Find out what it will take to return this horse-racing dynasty to the winner’s circle!

#5 Millions to Spare by Barbara Dunlop

Identifying with your captor is one thing. Marrying him is quite another! But when reporter Julia Nash is caught snooping, she’s faced with saying goodbye to her freedom…or saying I do to Lord Harrison Rochester!

#6 Courting Disaster by Kathleen O’Reilly

Race-car driver Demetri Lucas lives hard and fast—and he likes his women to match. Until he meets the one woman who can tempt him to slow down and enjoy the ride.

#7 Who’s Cheatin’ Who? by Maggie Price

Champion jockey Melanie Preston has a firm no-men-with-secrets policy. Especially when it comes to her family’s horse trainer, who has more secrets than anyone that sexy should….

#8 A Lady’s Luck by Ken Casper

After one glance, widower Brent Preston finds himself feeling emotions he thought long since buried. But pursuing his gracefully elusive English lady may mean heading straight into the arms of danger!

#9 Darci’s Pride by Jenna Mills

#10 Breaking Free by Loreth Anne White

#11 An Indecent Proposal by Margot Early

#12 The Secret Heiress by Bethany Campbell

Available as e-books at www.eHarlequin.com

#1 Flirting with Trouble by Elizabeth Bevarly

#2 Biding Her Time by Wendy Warren

#3 Picture of Perfection by Kristin Gabriel

#4 Something to Talk About by Joanne Rock

Dear Reader,

I live on a horse farm in West Texas. It’s not as grand or green or plush as Quest Stables in this story, but you can believe me when I say there’s always plenty of work to do. Horse people love every aspect of their four-legged critters. We’re enthralled to see them born, consider ourselves privileged to raise, coddle and ride them, and feel heart-wrenching sadness when we finally have to say goodbye to them. One of our old timers here is a twenty-eight-year-old retired Thoroughbred racehorse, so when I was asked if I would like to contribute to this Thoroughbred horse-racing series, you can be sure my immediate answer was a resounding “Yes!”

I hope you’re enjoying the THOROUGHBRED LEGACY series as much as I am. It seems to me it’s got it all—a close-knit, multigenerational traditional family; lots of beautiful horses; plenty of romance; and a soul-searching intrigue in an international setting. A hard combination to beat, on or off the track.

I always enjoy hearing from readers. You can write to me at P.O. Box 61511, San Angelo, TX 76906. Also, please check out my Web site at www.kencasper.com.

Ken Casper

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Also known as K. N. Casper, Ken Casper is an author of more than twenty books for Harlequin. He figures his writing career started back in the sixth grade when a teacher ordered him to write a “theme” explaining his misbehavior over the previous semester. To his teacher’s chagrin, he enjoyed stringing just the right words together to justify his less-than-stellar performance. That’s not to say he’s been telling tall tales to get out of scrapes ever since, but…

Born and raised in New York City, Ken is now a transplanted Texan. He and Mary, his wife of thirty-plus years, own a horse farm in San Angelo. Along with their two dogs, six cats and eight horses—at last count—they also board and breed horses, and Mary teaches English riding. She’s a therapeutic-riding instructor for people with disabilities, as well.

Life is never dull. Their two granddaughters visit several times a year and feel right at home with the Casper menagerie. Grandpa and Mimi do everything they can to make sure their visits will be lifelong fond memories. After all, isn’t that what grandparents are for?

You can keep up with Ken and his books on his Web site at http://www.kencasper.com.

My special thanks to:

Toni Anderson

Beryl Liggett

Garda Parker

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Epilogue

Monday, January 5

“It’s no good,” Brent Preston said sharply at his brother’s entrance. “I’ve hit a wall in this investigation.”

“That bad?” Andrew inquired. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the marble counter in the middle of the family’s country kitchen.

Brent had gone over everything in his mind and on paper a hundred times, and still he came up without answers that made sense.

He swept a hand over his face and turned to his brother. “Dammit, I don’t know what the hell went wrong. That breeding went like scores of others I’ve arranged and supervised.”

Andrew regarded him sympathetically. “No one’s blaming you.”

Like hell they’re not. And even if they aren’t, I am. I was in charge.

Last spring, three-year-old Leopold’s Legacy had become the star racehorse at the family’s Quest Stables, winning the Kentucky Derby, as well as the Preakness. The stallion appeared to be on his way to taking the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown, as well, but even without the Triple Crown, Leopold’s Legacy would garner enormous stud fees. Then a computer glitch at the Jockey Association prompted a call for a certain group of Thoroughbreds to have their DNA resubmitted.

No big deal.

Until the results came back. Then all hell broke loose.

According to the new DNA test, Apollo’s Ice was not the sire of Leopold’s Legacy, as the registration papers stated. Even worse, no one knew who the sire was, since the DNA didn’t match that of any stud in the Thoroughbred file.

The Jockey Association wasn’t interested in how the mix-up had occurred; their sole concern was that the provenance of the horse was not what it was purported to be. Leopold’s Legacy was pulled from the Belmont Stakes and Quest Stables was given three months to solve the discrepancy. When they were unable to do so, all Thoroughbreds majority-owned by Quest were banned by local and regional racing commissions from competing in North America. An international ban soon followed.

Almost overnight, revenue dropped by half as owners pulled their horses from the stables.

Andrew idly stirred his cup. “Listen, Brent, most of our clients will come back.”